Chapter 4

A week later, Sarah and Chloe officially moved into the penthouse. I saw pictures online, posted by one of Sarah's friends. Pictures of her arranging flowers on the mantelpiece where my family photos used to be. Pictures of Chloe' s bright pink toys scattered across the white marble floors. They were erasing me, creating a new reality on top of the ruins of mine.

Sarah quickly slid into her new role. She was photographed at charity luncheons on Liam' s arm, playing the part of the devoted partner and doting mother. The narrative she spun was one of a woman who had stood by a man as he made a difficult but honorable choice. Some people bought it. They saw a self-made man choosing his child over a dynastic marriage to a cold heiress. The sympathy she garnered made my blood boil.

The inevitable confrontation happened at a business dinner for a major urban development project. My family' s company was the lead investor, and I was the lead architect. Liam' s startup was bidding for the tech integration contract. He had to be there. And he brought Sarah.

He saw me as soon as he walked in. We were adversaries now, not just in life, but in business. The air crackled with tension.

As he passed my table to get to his, I noticed a dark, purplish mark on the side of his neck, just above his collar. A hickey. He subconsciously touched it, trying to pull his collar higher. It was a crude, possessive mark. A signal from Sarah. It was so transparent, so vulgar, that it didn't even make me jealous. It just disgusted me. It spoke volumes about the new, desperate dynamic of his relationship.

Later, I went to the ladies' room to touch up my lipstick. The door swung open and Sarah walked in. She leaned against the counter, a smug smile on her face.

"You should just give up, Ava," she said conversationally. "He' s with me now. He never really loved you. You were just a stepping stone for him. Convenient."

"Is that what he tells you?" I asked, meeting her eyes in the mirror.

"He doesn' t have to," she said, her smile widening. "He shows me. Every night."

The urge to slap her was immense, but I held it back. She wasn' t worth the effort.

"I heard a story about you, Sarah," I said, turning to face her. My voice was quiet, almost gentle. "Something about your last job, before you came to work for Liam. At that ad agency. Didn' t you get fired? For sleeping with your married boss?"

The color drained from her face. Her smugness vanished, replaced by panic.

"That' s a lie," she stammered.

"Is it?" I took a step closer. "Because I had my father' s people look into it. The records are all there. The HR complaints. The settlement. The non-disclosure agreement. An NDA you are currently violating by badmouthing your former employer all over town. How embarrassing for you. And for Liam, when this gets out."

Just then, the door opened and Liam walked in. He had obviously seen us go in together and followed.

"What' s going on?" he demanded, looking from Sarah' s pale face to my calm one.

"She' s threatening me!" Sarah cried, rushing to his side and grabbing his arm. "She' s making up horrible lies about me!"

Liam' s face hardened. He looked at me with pure venom.

"Get out, Ava. Get out of here right now."

"Gladly," I said.

I walked past them, pausing at the door. I turned back to look at him, holding Sarah, who was putting on a show of trembling fear.

"By the way, Liam," I said, my voice carrying back into the dining room. "I just spoke with my father. The board had an emergency meeting this afternoon. The Sterling Corporation is officially pulling all funding from your company. Effective immediately."

I watched the comprehension, then the pure terror, dawn on his face. This wasn't a personal spat anymore. This was war.

"And Sarah," I added with a thin smile. "Good luck."